


Wordless

by JourneyFairfeather



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-12
Updated: 2013-11-12
Packaged: 2018-01-01 06:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JourneyFairfeather/pseuds/JourneyFairfeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>S.H.I.E.L.D. has been trying to identify the perfect scientist for Agent Coulson's elite new team. When a routine post-mortem examination reveals something more unusual than Drs. Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons expected, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement - and something much stranger - comes to light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wordless

Leo realized his relationship with Jemma was more than just we're-always-together-so-let's-be-friends one day while they were working in silence in the University lab. She was across the room, dissecting the liver of a monkey that had dropped dead under mysterious circumstances in a zoo in New York City. It seemed Jemma always sought out the strange cases - or maybe they found her. Either way, Leo preferred to stay as far away as possible while she was on her little scientific adventures, happily sticking to his technological work.

"Damn it," he heard her curse, and he looked up. "There's absolutely nothing abnormal here, either!"

Leo was floored. Not by her words, but by the fact that  _she hadn't actually spoken them_. Her mouth stayed in a determined line, her eyebrows knitted, her small hands working busily. She never looked up or uttered a single audible sound.

_But I heard her!_  Leo thought, staring.  _I can't have imagined a sentence that specific!_

Jemma looked up then, her brown eyes tired and belying her frustration. "What, Fitz?"

He shook his head, not unlike a confused dog. "Uh, what?"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She brushed an errant strand of hair out of her eyes with the back of her wrist and sighed. "Do I have something on my face? Please tell me it's not monkey's blood. Again."

Leo blinked rapidly, not at all thrilled that he had zero idea what was going on. Everything after "Why are you looking at me like that?" seemed to sound only in his head, as Jemma had actually  _said_  nothing. "No, nope, nothing. Just...tired. Exhausted, really. Not sleeping well and all with field tests coming up soon, you know."

She smiled. "I know that feeling. But we'll be fine, Fitz." Blowing that same bit of hair back again, she rolled her shoulders and flexed her hands. "We've been over the material a thousand times."

He returned her expression, not convinced at all - neither that they were ready nor that he wasn't losing his mind. She was already back to work when his attention refocused, and he took a deep breath.  _Come on, Leo. Maybe you've got a fever. You're just hallucinating. Stop freaking out._

Blissful silence followed for a while, and he figured whatever he thought had been happening had passed. Just as he finally started to relax into his work again, he heard her voice. "Grab the hand, swing under, twist wrist... God, Jemma, how are you going to convince him you're both ready if you aren't?" He didn't have to look up to know that wasn't spoken aloud. "Well, I guess my best hope is that we both fail. I couldn't work without him. He's been by my side the whole damn time—I need him here."

Leo dropped the screwdriver he'd been using, and Jemma jumped, laughing when she caught his eye. "Nice move, Fitz."

He blushed, turning away slightly.  _What the hell is going on?_  He had no idea, but decided he'd better get away from her before he heard something he really shouldn't.

"I'll be back in a bit, Simmons."

"Sure." She tilted her head, eyebrows raised. "You okay? You look pale."

He shrugged, his default reaction to utter confusion. "Just need some fresh air."

"Okay. Call if you need me."

Leo swiped out of the lab, his head spinning. When he was out of the building, he found an isolated bench under a grove of trees and fell onto it.

_Think, Leo. You've never been the kind of person to let something unexplained bother you. Just stop and think and you'll figure it out._  He ignored the part of his brain screaming at him about Jemma's other thoughts - about how she  _needed_  him.  _That's a puzzle for another time - whenever you figure out why the hell you can hear her thoughts in the first place._

He closed his eyes and tried to focus.  _What's different about today than any other day in the lab?_  He and Jemma had come in seconds apart, as usual. He'd gone right to the tech area; she'd headed for the biochem table. They'd stopped working at eleven for a coffee break (black with one sugar for her, light and ultra-sweet for him) and then went right back to it.

A lightbulb lit over Leo's head. He didn't remember anything unusual before their coffee break. It wasn't until after, when Jemma started dissecting the poor dead monkey, that he'd started hearing things.  _The monkey! That's the catalyst!_

He jumped to his feet, running for the lab. He nearly crashed into a short, solid man in a dark suit and sunglasses as he sped through the front door, calling out, "So sorry!" as he fumbled for his swipe card.

"Fitz?!" Jemma held up her hands as he bounded into the lab. "What the hell is going on?"

"The monkey!" he cried. "Have you examined its brain?"

"I was just about to," she said, holding up a state-of-the-art X-ray wand. "Why? What did you figure out?"

He moved to her side, slipping on a pair of gloves and his own protective goggles. "I have a hunch," he replied simply. "I'll explain in a moment. First, scan it."

Jemma narrowed her eyes at him. "Ooookay..." Turning to the task at hand, she waved the wand slowly over every inch of the brain. "So far, everything seems perfectly norm—wait, did you see that?" She moved the X-ray back over the center of the left hemisphere, and on the screen beside her table, a mass of purple flared against the green. "Fitz, what is this?"

He squinted at the screen. "I don't know." He hoped it would explain something,  _anything_  really. "Get a sample. I'll help you figure this out."

When they worked together, it was obvious to anyone with eyes why they'd ceased being "Leo and Jemma" to classmates and coworkers, instead earning the portmanteau "FitzSimmons". They were fluid, smooth, perfectly in synch. Unlike other lab partners, you never heard an "oops" or a beaker clink against another...or really any sound. They knew each other so well, they could practically read each other's minds.

_Practically_ , Leo thought, stifling a snort. Working this close, he was never more positive about anything—something was giving him the ability to hear Jemma's thoughts. He heard, clearly as a bell, as she ran through complicated algorithms and detailed biological information, even as her voice stayed silent.  _But if it's something related to the monkey's tumor, is it only affecting me? Or can Jemma hear my thoughts, too?_  He stole a glance at her, hoping to catch her listening, but she was bent over a microscope, totally oblivious.

"Fitz, come look at this," she murmured suddenly. He moved to her side, prepared to take her place, but she put her hand on his arm to stop him. "I'm going to put it on the screen. I need to see this larger. This is  _incredible_."

He stayed beside her, her fingers disappearing into the wrinkles where his button-down shirt was shoved up to his elbows. For a moment, he forgot they were making a potentially huge scientific discovery, instead focusing completely on the woman clinging to him.  _She is so excited. And she's so beautiful when she's excited._  Leo's mind stopped dead there.  _She's so beautiful_  period _._

_Where did that come from?_

"Look at that, Leo," she breathed.

He turned his gaze to the screen. There, the purple mass from earlier took shape. It wasn't a tumor at all—or at least, it didn't look like one to his barely-trained eye. "Jemma," he whispered, "what is that?"

She squeezed his arm. "I'm not sure. But it's definitely alive."

Neither of them could say anything after that—even if they'd wanted to. The lab door slid open, and when they looked up, the same man Leo had nearly toppled in the hallway stood there.

"Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons?"

Jemma's fingers clenched, her nails digging into his skin, but of course she was the one to reply. "Yes, we are  _Doctors_  Fitz and Simmons." There was a bit of spite in the way she drew out the word. "And who are you?"

"Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D." The man in black took off his glasses, revealing surprisingly kind hazel eyes traced by smile lines. Jemma squeaked a little, and Leo's heart started to race. Everyone knew who S.H.I.E.L.D. was—The Battle Of New York had made that black-and-white eagle ubiquitous, especially during cleanup. "We hear you've discovered something...unusual."

Jemma stiffened, finally letting go of Leo's arm. "Yes, and?"

Agent Coulson smiled. "Don't worry, Dr. Simmons. I'm not here to take your research away." Leo saw her shoulders relax, and he took the initiative.

"So why are you here then?"

Another easy smile. "If you have discovered what we believe you have," his eyes flicked between the two scientists, "then I believe we may have a job offer for you."

"Both of us." It wasn't a question, not verbally, nor in the echo of the statement Leo heard in his head.  _Or neither of us._

"Of course. I've heard plenty about the famous FitzSimmons. We'd never dream of splitting you up."

Jemma relaxed some more, shooting a smile at Leo. "I don't actually know what we've discovered, sir. All I know is that, since this monkey has been in our lab, strange things have been occurring. Items moving on their own, unusual readings on machines I wasn't using..." She stopped, her pale face reddening. "Even the capability to hear other people's thoughts."

The floor dropped out from under him. She made a point to look away, to look everywhere  _but_  at Leo.  _She heard my thoughts. For how long? What did she hear?_

"Very interesting," Agent Coulson said with a smile. "How would you like to work on this with the highest quality tech you've ever seen?"

Leo didn't need the mind-reading hormone (or whatever it was) to know what was going through Jemma's mind—it was exactly the same thing as was going through his, just with a bit less absolute, numbing terror. "Agent Coulson, sir?" he managed quietly. "Why us?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been monitoring science offices and departments for years. There have been so many close calls, so many scientists and doctors who  _almost_  had what we needed." He braced his hands on the table, seeming to look at both of them without moving his head. "And then we found you. Two young, brilliant, unflinching scientists with something all the others were missing—a  _connection_." He gestured to the sample on the screen. "That Organism you discovered. We've known about it for a while, but we couldn't find it. It hides in biological hosts, usually managing to move along before death so that it won't be discovered. Whatever killed this poor monkey was so fast, the Organism didn't have time to leave."

"What does that have to do with us?" Jemma asked, shuffling her feet. Leo knew that reaction—it was her nervous tick, just like the way he tended to chew on the side of his thumb.

"As far as we know, the Organism enhances random parts of the brains of any living being within a short radius. It seems to focus on a part of the brain that's already extraordinary." Agent Coulson's gaze finally shifted, focusing on Leo, and then moving to Jemma. "We believe you two may have already shared a dormant psychic link."

"Oh, my god."

Leo actually wasn't sure which one of them said it, but if it was Jemma, he agreed. "What...what makes you think that?" he stammered.

Agent Coulson just smiled. "Sorry, that's classified. Now, if you decided to join us..."

"We're in!" Jemma cried. Leo jumped, looking at her. She met his eyes, her cheeks still red. "We  _are_  in, right, Fitz?"

He fought the thoughts, knowing she could hear them, but he was completely unsuccessful. He just knew he couldn't say no to her. He couldn't disappoint her. He liked that smile so much, he didn't want to be the one to make it go away. Her eyes twitched a bit, and he knew she'd been listening. He tilted his head, so slightly that only she could have noticed it, in apology.

"Fine, sure, yeah. I'm in."

"Good. There will be a car here Wednesday morning at 0500 hours. Pack light. We'll have all the equipment you need." Agent Coulson slid his sunglasses back over his eyes. "Nice to have you aboard, FitzSimmons."

He disappeared out of the lab almost before Leo could blink, and almost as quickly, Jemma's arms were around him. He looked down at the top of her head, and he just had to smile. She didn't say a word—she didn't have to.

_Thank you for saying yes. I couldn't do this without you. I don't want to do this without you._

Leo hugged her back. "Together, Jemma. Like always."

**

The wind whipped around her. The sky was an endless expanse of blue and white tinged with gold, the water below almost the same. Her skin tingled, sparked with energy that wasn't her own, that felt  _wrong_  and  _alien_  and  _hurt_. It hurt so badly. Her head felt like it was splitting, her fingertips stung and burned, her eyes were dry—as much as she wanted to cry, she couldn't do it. She closed them, squeezing her eyelids as tightly as she could.

_You have to do this, Jemma,_  she told herself sternly.  _You have to save them. They can't die because of you. You've got to save everyone—you've got to save_  Leo _._

At the thought of his name, Jemma felt him in her head. "Jemma! Jemma, no!" She turned, her back to the nothingness, and opened her eyes. Leo stood behind the cargo bay door, his face red, tears streaming down his cheeks, screaming,  _screaming_. "Jemma, please! Don't do this!  _Jemma_!"

She wanted to run back to him. She wanted to hide in his arms and cry and tell him how scared she was. She didn't want to die alone. She didn't want him to  _see_  her die.

Instead, she met his eyes. She tilted her head slightly, apologizing wordlessly.  _I'm sorry, Leo. I'm sorry. Please, forgive me._

As her heels slipped off the bay, she thought one last thing.  _I love you._

Suddenly, his face was gone, replaced with clouds and sky and the bus fading, fading into the distance.

_I love you so much, Leo._

**Author's Note:**

> I realize that, assuming their "psychic link" was active during "F.Z.Z.T." as the epilogue does here, Leo realizing that Jemma's anti-serum worked should have been easier to share with her. However, I wrote this with the idea that they can only read each other's minds when they're in the same room and/or able to see each other - more like a proximity thing. When Leo sees her about to jump, he's not thinking, "Your serum worked!", he's thinking exactly what he says.
> 
> (Also, as someone pointed out: the epilogue is meant to imply that working with S.H.I.E.L.D. strengthened FitzSimmons' psychic link so that they can connect without the Organism's help.)


End file.
